What do you LOVE talking about? What do people ask for your advice on? What are you naturally drawn to learning and teaching.

Start here, what may seem natural to you is likely not natural to someone else.

Align your passions and your interests with what you’re sharing online. Become an expert in something that you already love, that way continuing to learn and grow and stay up to-date on this topic is fun!

Building an influence and a loyal following is all about establishing yourself as an expert in a specialized area so that people can eventually trust you and seek out your advice.

And the more specialized the better!

Remember, I got my big leap into becoming an influencer online by growing a blog called Petite Fashionista. This was many years ago, but the lesson is still true. Get niche in the marketplace for fast growth and influence!

It’s the principle of giving tremendously to your audience, before you ask!

There are so many benefits of building a personal brand, and the recent surge of social media stars is a prime example of how powerful your own brand can become. We are in this empowering era of the #YOUeconomy

It’s about you making a big difference in the world with your unique gifts and voice!

3. Focus on quality over quantity

Instead of publishing a large number of posts, concentrate on amazing your followers with your content all the time.

You can work on publishing more content later, but when you’re just starting to work and build up a following, it is important to produce quality content to attract an audience first. The most successful influencers never publish posts carelessly because they don’t have the time to perfect it.

They always take the time to post great content so that it is both insightful and aligned with their personal brand.

There are opportunities for posting imperfect content and you can take advantage of posting on the whim with Instagram stories and FB Messenger Day.

4. Pay attention to what’s working and what’s not

Pay attention to the type of content your followers are engaging with. If they are sharing, liking, and commenting on a particular post more than another post, they are probably more interested in the post they are engaging with.

Use this to gauge your followers’ interests and produce more content in that area of interest to build up your following.

5. Be personable

Don’t get caught up in creating an image of the perfect influencer, where you’re only posting about your achievements and successes.

Try posting about your missteps, failures, and vulnerabilities too, and how you learned and grew from them.

This is where people can really connect with you.

Let people get to know you, imperfections and all!

6. Engage with your followers

Your followers may be interested in the content that you create, but it is also important that you reciprocate by connecting with them to build relationships.

Be a cheer leader for others, take the time to respond! This will help you gain a loyal following.

You can achieve this by responding to comments they leave on your social media page and by leaving comments on their social media pages too.

Also, by commenting of their posts you are reaching their audience too and may just gain a few new followers too! Win, win! 😉

7. Build relationships with other influencers

Start networking with other influencers in your industry by first being of assistance.

Look for opportunities to collaborate with them.

Can you help someone of note promote something they are launching? Do they have an affiliate program? Can you ask them to be a guest speaker on a recorded coaching call? Maybe feature them on your blog, by asking them their top tips on a subject that would provide value for your followers AND get them exposure?

Be create! Get collaborative!

8. Master the art of the humble brag 😉

“Growing your influence on social media isn’t about popularity. It’s about convincing others of your qualifications, and getting them to see you as a thought leader. There’s no way around it, this means making your accomplishments known. If you win an award, exceed some amazing sales goal, launch a new product line, or accomplish something else noteworthy, make it known. It will give people reason to see you as an influencer.”

– Peter King, CEO of Mamma

Share what you’re proud of and thank the people who helped you make it a reality!

Heck, If you’re not going to tell the word how great you are, who is going to?!